Every year a number of people are killed by falling through the surface of a frozen body of water and drowning in the freezing waters below. These tragedies most frequently occur to snowmobilers, skaters, skiers, ice fisherman, and pedestrians crossing the ice surface. Often the victims are unable to pull themselves from the water onto the ice surface because the ice surface lacks any rigid protrusions that may be gripped.
There is a need for an aid that may be carried by persons who are travelling along an ice surface. The aid would provide means for gripping the ice surface to assist a person in pulling themselves onto the ice surface. The aid would be convenient and safe to carry and would be simple to access when a person has fallen through the ice.